Juvenile admits to punching Steven Utash, denies racial motive

A 17-year-old male admitted Wednesday he was the first one to punch Steven Utash, hitting him twice in the head.

For that, he was sentenced to juvenile detention.

Courtney Robinson of Detroit in essence pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm in exchange for dismissal of an ethnic intimidation charge in Wayne County Juvenile Court in Detroit, in a deal with prosecutors. He also agreed to testify against any co-defendant if necessary.

He has denied a racial motive for his attack, his attorney, Solomon Radner, said.

Advertisement

“He never told police he did this out of racism,” Solomon said following the hearing. “I found it interesting the only charged with the ethnic intimidation charge is the juvenile.”

Moments before in court, as part of the guilty plea, Radner asked Robinson, “You punched Mr. Utash?”

Robinson, who sat in the witness chair dressed in a grey inmate jumpsuit, replied, “Yes.”

“You tried to injure Mr. Utash?” Radner said.

“Yes,” repeated Robinson, who showed no emotion during the hearing.

Utash, 54, was beaten by an angry mob April 2 after exiting his pickup truck to check on a 10-year-old whom he had struck with his vehicle on Morang, near Cadeiux.

Utash, who suffered head injuries, spent weeks in an induced coma and and was released last month from a Detroit rehabilitation center.

Four adults and one juvenile were charged.

Prior testimony indicated that Robinson, who was 16 at the time, saw the accident as he was walking with at least one fellow student at East English High School, Bruce Wimbush Jr., 18 (17 at the time of the incident), who pleaded in adult court Monday to the same charge reduced from attempted murder. They waved down Utash, and Robinson asked him to exit the truck before punching him, according to Wimbush’s statement Monday.

Radner described what occurred from Robinson’s perspective.

“What happened was he saw a little boy get hit,” Solomon said. “There was a little boy lying in the street bleeding and crying. That uncovered some very deep emotional feelings in my client.

“Unfortunately he did what a lot of 16-year-olds would do and made a very bad decision. He certainly wouldn’t be the first 16-year-old to punch somebody, which is all my client did. He punched him, it was unnecessary, unlawful, it was the wrong thing to do, and then he ran away.

“He didn’t know that several minutes later an angry mob of more people would come and almost kill Mr. Utash. My client was never the one who was stomping on his face, yelling out any of the absurd things … and absolutely did not intend to kill him like some of the defendants may have.”

“After he realized he was party to a very violence attack on Mr. Utash, he was completely beside himself and spent many nights not able to sleep knowing he had a role in very seriously injuring somebody,” he said.

Juvenile Judge Jerome Cavanagh, after accepting Robinson plea to “accept responsibility,” sentenced him to indefinite placement through county Family and Child Services that Solomon compared to “boarding school.” A review hearing was set for Sept. 17.

Robinson also was ordered to serve 50 hours of community service and report any police contact once he is released.

Cameras were not allowed in the courthouse at the hearing.

His parents, Clint and Shirril Robinson, sat at a table with the parties in court and agreed with the plea deal.

The couple, who said they have three other children, all adults, declined direct comment to the media. But they had Radner read a letter in which they expressed sympathy for Utash and remorse for the incident, and addressed the ethnic intimidation allegation.

“First, we are not racists,” they said. “We resented the fact that they initially charged him with a hate crime. We have never taught racism in our home. It is something that we do not tolerate, ever.

“Second, we have always taught our children there are other ways to resolve conflict without violence, and that violence is never the answer.”

They said they are “deeply saddened our child had any part in the attack on Mr. Utash.”

“We continue to pray for Mr. Utash and his family and pray that he makes a full recovery,” they said.

Robinson had been scheduled to face a trial next Monday but made the plea after the first defendant, Wimbush, pleaded Monday.

Some or all of the three remaining defendants may make pleas Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit. Charged with attempted murder, they are Wonzey Saffold, 30; James D. Davis, 24; and Latrez Cummings, 19, all of Detroit. They are scheduled for August trial dates.